September 28, 2001

Bush Says U.S. in 'Hot Pursuit' of Bin Laden
By Patricia Wilson and Tahir Ikram
Friday September 28 4:16 PM ET
WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - President Bush said on Friday the United States was in ``hot pursuit'' of Osama bin Laden, but he refused to comment on reports U.S. special forces were already

Pakistan delegation returns empty handed after talks with Taliban
KABUL, Sept 28 (AFP) - Efforts to avert US military strikes on Afghanistan took a step backward Friday when the ruling Taliban told Pakistani Islamic clerics they would not bow to US

Pakistan Taleban talks fail
BBC News
Talks between a delegation of Pakistani Islamic leaders and the Taleban authorities in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar have broken up with no sign of progress.

Northern Alliance gets help from U.S.
By Rowan Scarborough
THE WASHINGTON TIMES 9/28/01
The U.S. military has begun discreetly helping the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, while the Bush administration is nearing a decision to arm the opposition force in its stepped-up war against the Taliban regime, senior officials say.

Afghan opposition makes little headway
Friday, 28 September, 2001, 21:17 GMT 22:17 UK BBC News
Northern Alliance forces have been trading fire with Taleban fighters, as the opposition struggles to get closer to the Afghan capital.
The alliance's political representatives

Powell to see Kazakh FM amid reports of Uzbek talks, Afghan commando moves
WASHINGTON, Sept 28 (AFP) - Secretary of State Colin Powell was to see his Kazakh counterpart here Friday amid reports that a high-level US team is in Uzbekistan

Taliban leader warns countries aiding US may "be considered enemies"
Saturday September 29, 4:51 AM
TEHRAN, Sept 28 (AFP) - The leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has repeated a warning that countries which assist any US-led military action against his country

Trial of Christian Aid Workers to Resume in Kabul
Friday September 28 5:37 PM ET
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - A lawyer for eight detained foreign aid workers, including two Americans, who are accused of spreading Christianity in Afghanistan left Pakistan for Kabul Friday

Afghan Tribal Elders Gather to Plot New Future
By Ovais Subhani
Friday September 28 5:31 PM ET
QUETTA, Pakistan (Reuters) - Tribal leaders from southern Afghanistan gathered just over the border in Pakistan Friday, hoping to find a way to write the obituary of Taliban rule and devise a new government

WFP Sends Afghan Food Airlift, UNICEF Plans Convoy
By Scott McDonald
Friday September 28 2:57 PM ET
PESHAWAR (Reuters) - The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) began an emergency food airlift Friday in preparation for a massive effort to feed more than 1 million refugees fleeing an expected U.S.

Jesse Jackson Cool on Meeting Taliban
By Broward Liston
Friday September 28 4:41 PM ET
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Reuters) - U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said on Friday he was leaning against traveling to Afghanistan for discussions with the Taliban about Osama bin Laden

U.S. Offers $25 Million to Help Afghan Refugees
Friday September 28 2:39 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush on Friday earmarked $25 million to help agencies meet the needs of an estimated one million Afghan refugees who are fleeing their country ahead of an expected U.S. attack.

Afghan Opposition Clerics Support U.S. Strikes
By Peter Graff
Friday September 28 2:15 PM ET
SHIRKAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Rifles at their sides, fighters for Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance knelt in mosques for Friday prayers.

French PM says Afghans should get rid of Taliban
NANTES, France, Sept 28 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin said on Friday the Afghan people should take their destiny into their own hands and free themselves from the "oppressive Taliban regime."

Pakistan delegation meets Taliban, Bin Laden vows jihad will continue
KABUL, Sept 28 (AFP) - A Pakistani delegation Friday made a last-ditch attempt to persuade Afghanistan's ruling Taliban to hand over Osama bin Laden after the Saudi-born

Ill-equipped Afghan opposition looks to US for assistance
JABAL SERAJ, Afghanistan, Sept 28 (AFP) - As the United States prepares to launch an anti-terrorist war in Afghanistan, it faces pressure to rearm the opposition

Afghans united behind Islamic regime: Taliban
ISLAMABAD, Sept 28 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban regime has angrily rejected speculation that it may crumble from within before a shot is fired

Global relief effort for Afghanistan swings into gear
ISLAMABAD, Sept 28 (AFP) - The first wave of emergency UN food airlifts arrived in Pakistan on Friday as aid workers braced for an expected flood of refugees

US asks Security Council to cut off support for terrorists
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 27 (AFP) - As it mulled its military options against Afghanistan, the United States asked the Security Council Thursday to order UN member

Putin and Blair discuss Afghanistan
MOSCOW, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed the situation in Afghanistan i

Pakistani fighters have many reasons but one enemy
By Ovais Subhani
QUETTA, Pakistan, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Three young men, three motives, but only a single enemy. Rafiq Khan is in his 20s, a hardened guerrilla fighter.

The Taleban's winter ally - bbc
If there is to be American military activity in Afghanistan, it will run into a problem that has always plagued armies there - the winter weather.

Afghans brace for US strike
By the BBC's Sarah Nelson in northern Afghanistan
Money-changers don't count notes at the crowded market in Khoja Bahauddin, a town in a part of northern Afghanistan controlled by the main opposition group

Jackson mulls Afghan visit - bbc
The United States civil rights leader Jesse Jackson said he is still considering whether to go ahead with a visit to Afghanistan to hold peace talks with the ruling Taleban.